Granddaughter carries on operations at Snow Camp theater

Though Chelsey Wilson has only recently taken the reins of the operations at Snow Camp Outdoor Theatre, it has been a second home for the 23-year-old for years.

Wilson, the granddaughter of the theater’s founder, the late James Wilson, has worked at there in various capacities as a cast member, choreographer, box office clerk, marketing director and now, interim general manager. After her grandfather, whom she always affectionately referred to as “James,” passed away in September, the outdoor theater’s board of directors appointed Wilson to oversee the venue in the meantime. And she has vision for Snow Camp Outdoor Theatre’s future.

“We can’t keep doing the same routine over and over,” Wilson said. “We’re going to start having different audiences, and we have to get younger folks involved. A lot of ideas and changes are coming for this summer.”

Wilson graduated from Southern Alamance High School in 2008, and attended Alamance Community College before transferring to Guilford College, where she graduated in May with a degree in sports management. In addition to the theater, she works for a sports event management company in Greensboro.

She said that the theater has been a family affair, with her father, Bryan, being “kind of the one who put the idea (for it) in James’ head” when he was younger.

Wilson’s mother, Melodee, and father are both board members, and her brothers, Hayden, 21, and Tanner, 15, have spent their summers making popcorn in the concessions area, taking care of groundskeeping, and doing other jobs around the outdoor theater.

“The rest of them are community members and people throughout the state,” Wilson said of the board members. “Some of them are alumni or people of Quaker heritage, which brought them to Snow Camp to see a show.”

Wilson said Snow Camp has a history of Quakers being involved with the Underground Railroad, a 19th century network of abolitionists and allies who helped black slaves escape to free states. History is what inspired the two plays the theater performs each summer: "The Sword of Peace," which it has put on for 40 years, and "Pathway to Freedom," for the past 20 years.

James Wilson’s widow, Louise, is a Snow Camp-native Quaker, which Wilson said made her father a “direct descendant,” and her grandfather “married into it,” adopting a Quaker way of life. Members of the Wilson family attend Cane Creek Friends Meeting in Snow Camp, she said.

She said she hopes people who attend the plays will still take the message of the performance to heart and will ask themselves what they can do prevent the oppression of any group again. Wilson said in addition to spreading a message of peace, the theater has offered countless actors a place to launch their careers.

“I had no idea — I’m from Snow Camp — that I wanted to be involved in acting,” Wilson said. “It has changed my life, and has changed, now, thousands of people’s lives, just from having a little outdoor drama.”

Though not all of the upcoming changes have been announced, Wilson said the outdoor theater plans soon to become a venue for weddings and concerts.

“I have a positive outlook,” she said. “I do because I believe there’s a lot of positive changes that are going to take place. Becoming sustainable is really our thing right now.”